Hero Kids - Fantasy RPG

Hero Kids is the ENnie award-winning fantasy RPG for kids aged from 4 to 10. This game offers a fast and fun introduction to RPGs, perfect for younger kids who are just getting interested in role-playing games.

NOTE: The print option includes the core rules, heroes, and monsters. Select the Print + PDF option (no extra cost) to also get the introductory adventure and printable heroes and monsters.

EXTRA NOTE: The Hero Kids - Complete Fantasy PDF Bundle includes 50% discount coupons for the softcover print versions of Hero Kids - Fantasy RPG and the Hero Kids - Fantasy Expansion - Monster Compendium (the coupons are emailed to you when you buy the bundle). So if you want the whole lot (PDFs and print version of the rules), buy the bundle then use the coupon to buy the softcover print version of Hero Kids - Fantasy RPG for half price!

Hero Kids has a simple combat and adventuring system which avoids the complex maths of full-blown systems. Hero Kids' opposed dice pool system also keeps the players involved in the game even when it's not their turn.

The combat and adventuring mechanics in Hero Kids are based on six-sided dice, so you don't need to find any unusual dice to play!

The core game comes in a 50-page PDF and includes all of the rules and play instructions, as well as 10 heroes for the kids to play, plus a set of 16 basic monsters (and all of the separate adventures come with additional monsters). The game includes male and female heroes, including Warriors, Hunters, and Warlocks as well as unique heroes like the Rogue, Brute, Healer, and Knight. All of the heroes and monsters also come with printable stand-up minis to use in combat encounters.

Additionally, this basic game pack also includes the 19-page introductory adventure 'Basement O Rats', which comes with an extra monster and five illustrated printable encounter maps. Can the kids rescue their friend Roger from the unusually large rats that have overrun the tavern basement?

Hero Kids has undergone and extensive development and playtesting to ensure the game is as simple, addictive, and engaging as possible. But don't believe me, listen to the actual players:

"The game was great, we were off and playing within a few minutes of reading the rules!"

"Was woken up at 6am this morning by my son, saying he wanted to play Hero Kids right now! There's no such thing as going back to sleep in a 7yo's universe!"

"The game was simple enough for my precocious three-year-old to enjoy, and my five year old to not be distracted from. With the included adventure we all had a lot of fun, including me."

"The art in the book is great: the character portraits are great and very evocative, bringing forth things kids interested in this will probably be familiar with anyway. There's a character who resembles Rapunzel from Disney's Tangled, another who reminds me of Prince Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender."

"The game mechanics are easy to understand and fast enough to keep young players interested and do not get in the way of the story that is unfolding."

"The only real complaint I have is that there aren't full-page coloring pages available for each of the character portraits, something my kids (and myself!) would really enjoy."

"The design is clever, well thought out, and guaranteed to make you jealous that you didn't come up with it first."

"Providing stand-ups for each character helped a lot as well - it saved me from having to dig through my existing figures to find ones that resembled the children, and it reused the wonderful art."

"A great 'starter' rpg for kids, and even better gaming experience for parents to play with their kids. The core rpg experience has been boiled down to its bare essentials here. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to read the entire rulebook and have a good enough grasp on the rules to play your first session. Games will typically take under 30 minutes to play, which short for a typical rpg session, but absolutely perfect when playing with kids."

Hello! Seems to be a very nice game. Any Russian version available / in plans?

Robert SOctober 26, 2018 4:50 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Just purchased this to start "making up stories" with my Son. He loves the images and the non human heroes too!
My question is are the images available easily outside of the pdfs? My son would love the be able to digitally colour his hero and pet. And also choose the colours for the monsters!
He is only 3 so has not yet grasped real world colouring, but thanks to the plethora of iPad apps he would be able to colour them digitally and then I could print the standees for him and they truly would be his heroes!

edgar DOctober 06, 2018 12:07 am UTC

PURCHASER

What order do we run the quest?
Basement O Rats first for sure but after that is there a specific order?

Excellent RPG for children! The Hero Kids bundle is an awesome discount that comes with plenty of options and adventures to use for a family game night. This game is the perfect way to introduce your children to role-playing.

Richard DAugust 23, 2018 6:37 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Just bought the full PDF bundle nice stuff.
But did I miss something or there no straight black and white - printer friendly - versions of the character, pet, monster, etc. cards?

Chad KAugust 01, 2018 2:12 am UTC

PURCHASER

If this was "reskinned" a bit, and with different art aimed at adults, this would be a great quick pick up game for gamers of any age!

Chad KJuly 31, 2018 12:13 am UTC

PURCHASER

Is there a list of Heroes/Classes available somewhere? Id like to see the options available. thanks!

Chad KAugust 01, 2018 2:11 am UTC

PURCHASER

Nevermind, i took a chance and bought it, along with a few PDFs.

Justin HAugust 02, 2018 11:27 am UTC

PUBLISHER

Apologies Chad. I've updated the blog with the full list of Heroes and Pets:

http://herokidsrpg.blogspot.com/p/hero-kids-expansions.html

Chad KAugust 02, 2018 6:19 pm UTC

PURCHASER

No worries. I bought the game and think its great. You should think about an "adult version" with different art. Thanks!

Matt WJune 22, 2018 5:45 am UTC

PURCHASER

Played this with my kids, 6 & 9 and they really loved it! Easy to follow and play. Fantastic entry into RPG!

Marjorie FMarch 13, 2018 1:45 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Hello,
I'm really looking forward to playing the game with my kids.
Is there a french version of the character card?
TIA

Justin HApril 13, 2018 10:14 am UTC

PUBLISHER

Sorry, I missed this message. Yes, the cards are available in French here:

Hi Justin, I'm a chinese buyer and I'm also a father of 2 years old boy. So far I haven't played Hero Kids but after reading through it, I think I like the ideas. I would like to translate it into chinese and maybe I can publish it in China. Please contact me if you are interested in. frank@miniwarfare.com

Thank you!
Frank

Tiziana DJanuary 11, 2018 4:46 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Hi,
I like to purchase the RPG but I need some info for understand better what I would.
If I choose the "PDF + Softcover B&W Book" you send me all in PDF format or you send me some the printed book version?
I live in Italy so I would understand better. For me it's better PDF format.

In this version you send me also introductory adventure and printable heroes and monsters. It's correct?

Thank you in advance
Tiziana

Justin HJanuary 12, 2018 9:16 am UTC

PUBLISHER

Hi Tiziana,
When you purchase "PDF + Softcover B&W Book" you get the digital downloads of the PDFs as well as the physical print book. If you just want the PDFs, then select the "PDF" option, which is currently on sale. The PDFs come with the printable hero and monster standups, as well as the introductory adventure; Basement O Rats.

Tracy RApril 12, 2018 3:10 am UTC

Just for clarity - the item description says:
>Select the Print + PDF option (no extra cost) to also get the introductory adventure and printable heroes and monsters.

But your comment says:
>The PDFs come with the printable hero and monster standups, as well as the introductory adventure; Basement O Rats.

Does the PDF include the extras if I purchase the PDF only, or do I need to buy the Book + PDF in order to get the extras?
Thanks!

Rachel SMay 06, 2018 8:40 pm UTC

PURCHASER

I have purchased the PDF only version. The PDF file is long; it includes 10 character sheets (each a half-sheet) and two DIY hero sheets, 10 matching character stand-ups, 12 monster cards (quarter sheet) and 7 full pages of matching monster stand-ups.

There is a color pdf, a printer-friendly (B&W) pdf, a Print On Demand (formatted booklet for copy-shop) pdf, a full color Basement O Rats adventure, and a printer-friendly Basement O Rats. The POD version doesn't have the stand ups in it, but all the others do. The adventure actually includes the creatures monster sheet & stand-ups that you need for that adventure, including the boss monster (King Rat).

I actually purchased the entire bundle; the expansion packs and other adventures also include lots of hero and monster stand ups. They are all excellent! All of the character/monster cards and stand-ups are line drawings so you and your kids can color them in as you like.

Christopher RJanuary 09, 2018 1:20 am UTC

PURCHASER

Hi. I purchased the Hero Kids - Complete Fantasy PDF Bundle last month and it said I would be emailed a discount for the print version. I never got that email. Can someone send, or let me know where to send my order info? Thankyou

Justin HJanuary 09, 2018 9:33 am UTC

PUBLISHER

Hi Christopher, the code is included in the purchase confirmation email that you would have received from DriveThruRPG. Try your spam folder, or email me at justinhalliday@gmail.com

William CNovember 26, 2017 6:36 pm UTC

PURCHASER

So, I'm unsure if it's ever come up but does anyone use a Leveling Up system with this game to keep the adventures rolling with the same characters??
I ran my first game of this last night with a mix of ages (5, 13, 30 & 51) and it went over well but at the end of "Basement of Rats" I noticed there wasn't any sort of XP system, so, in the moment, I decided to give each player 2 "Special Dice" that they added to their character sheets. In future adventures they can "spend" one of their Special Dice to add a die to one of their rolls, be it attack or investigation or whatever.
Anyone else come up with any good leveling ideas?

J LOctober 29, 2017 4:03 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Hiya,

Any chance of getting a dutch translation? :D

Anyways, what does POD version stand for?

Curtis BNovember 27, 2017 8:46 pm UTC

PURCHASER

I am pretty sure POD means "Print on Demand". I think it would be if you sent it off to a service to be printed, it looks like once printed, it would turn nicely into a bindable book.

As for POD, that means Print on Demand. The Hero Kids - Fantasy RPG rule-book PDF comes in two sizes: US Letter and 6x9 digest size POD file. The second file is the one that's used for the print version of the book.

Great product! I was wanting to introduce my 9yo to tabletop RPGs and this was a perfect way. She grasped it quickly and wants to play every weekend now. I will be buying the rest of the modules now I guess! Thanks! [...]

This is absolutly fantastic for younger kids getting into rpg's, i started by getting my kids (3, 4 and 8) to choose a hero out of the coloriong book, a seprate free download, aand got them to color in there heros as we played (a helpful distraction at [...]

6.5 year old has very much enjoyed the game - we've played 2 of the adventures so far - one of which we did one evening while on a family vacation - just had printed the adventure beforehand - handful of 6 sided dice and a very compact game to play whe [...]

What a great system to introduce RPGs to my 6yo boy! I was an AD&D and GURPS player from waaaay back when, and have been missing the hobby. When my son found my old D&D books and expressed interest, I jumped at the opportunity. I went looking [...]

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